Calgary kicks off journey with 3-2 win in Medicine Hat on Tuesday night

Pavlo Padakin scored the game-winner for the Calgary Hitmen in Medicine Hat on Tuesday — a 3-2 triumph that kicks off a nine-game road trip, broken up in two parts.

Photograph by: Leah Hennel
, Calgary Herald

Very soon, Mack Shields is going to be wrapping his head around thrilling topics such as electric and magnetic forces and fields, electromagnetic radiation, and velocity.

Or, in other words, Physics 30.

But the really tough part for the Calgary Hitmen netminder (and Grade 12 student) is grasping those concepts and doing his homework on a bumping bus, in a noisy hotel room, or when, simply, he’s just too tired to do it.

Teammate Peter Kosterman knows the drill. He’s been there, done that, graduated high school, and learned how to focus on the road — something Shields and a handful of of other players are going to have to learn on their current nine-game trip away from the Scotiabank Saddledome.

“It is tough on the road to motivate yourself to do it,” Kosterman said prior to Game 1 of the mammoth swing which began Tuesday at Medicine Hat. “Even if you have the time, you’re just trying to get some rest or get ready for the next game or if you’re on the bus and getting into hotels late.

It is a challenge.”

That’s where Bernie Bajnok comes in. The former high school principal has been the team’s education adviser for over a decade and has a system down an art. Yet in his entire career, he’s never dealt with a road trip this lengthy.

Following Tuesday’s 3-2 win in Medicine Hat (on goals from Victor Rask, Cody Sylvester and Pavlo Padakin, while Calgarian Hunter Shinkaruk had both for the Tigers), the Hitmen will hit the iron lung for games at Swift Current (Wednesday), Saskatoon (Friday), and Prince Albert (Saturday). Then they go on a five-game tour through the U.S. Division starting Feb. 6. Their next game at home isn’t until Feb. 16 when they host Victoria.

However, because players won’t be in school until Feb. 19 (thanks to the Teacher’s convention and Family Day holidays) increased expectations were in order.

Seven Hitmen — Grade 11 students Jake Virtanen, Josh Thrower, and Chase Lang, and Grade 12s Shields, Austin Calladine, Colby Harmsworth, and Elliott Peterson — are still in high school. Another handful are taking university courses or upgrading.

“Basically, they’re going to be independent study while they’re away,” Bajnok said. “They are going to know there is an assignment and they are going to have to use the book and try to do the assignment themselves. In school, there would be some sort of presentation, some discussion, some interaction. Then, they’d go do the assignment.

“Instead, these guys are going to be in their hotel room or study hall with one of their coaches.”

Utilizing an online system called D2L (Desire To Learn) through the Calgary Board of Education, players communicate with teachers and send/receive assignments.

All they need is an Internet connection at the Best Western in Swift Current, Prince Albert, or wherever they happen to be — and they’re good to go.

“The easiest is studying in the hotel room,” Shields said. “You can get guys into a study session. On the bus is kind of hard. The bus is moving and it’s kind of hard to focus.”

Luckily, the coaching staff supervises study sessions during off-days and manages their schedules.

For example, their U.S. road trip looks like this: arrive in Portland on Feb. 5 and study. Play Feb. 6 against Portland, Feb. 8 against Everett, Feb. 9 against Seattle. Day off on Feb. 11 and more studying. Play Feb. 12 at Tri-City and Feb. 13 at Spokane.

When they return, Bajnok anticipates running a session of what he calls “Dome School” where all of the players gather at the Saddledome to finish assignments or to consult a tutor.

But on the road — for the most part — they’re on their own.

“Nobody’s going to say, ‘Is your homework done?’ ” Bajnok said. “So you have to be responsible. You have to find time in your room or when study hall comes, get to task and get it done.”

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